MOOSE JAW — When it comes to winning any major curling championship, often it’s just a matter of finding the right wins at the right time.
That was exactly the case for Kaylee Hogeboom and her Moose Jaw Curling Centre foursome at the Curl Sask U18 girls provincial championship last weekend.
Hogeboom and her rink of third Payton Fisher, second Abby Hogeboom, lead Kelsey McQueen and alternate / lead Callista McQueen qualified through the B side and would then proceed to win their final two playoff games to claim the U18 girls provincial title in Prince Albert.
“It was definitely not bad,” Kaylee said. “We curled the best we had all season so it was really nice to see results from that, we all worked really hard and curled really well and it was just a team effort. It was wonderful.”
After scoring three in the eighth end to defeat Regina’s Shawna Simpson in the B final, Hogeboom would go on to drop the 1-2 Page Playoff game to Saskatoon’s Renee Wood. It was her second loss to Wood in the event, after falling 10-1 in the A qualifier final.
The Moose Jaw foursome got right back at it, though, scoring one in the eighth in the semifinal for an 8-7 win over North Battleford’s Chloe Semeniuk to advance to the provincial title game.
There, Hogeboom ran into Wood once again, and the third time was the charm, as she scored points over the final three ends to take a 7-3 win and claim Saskatchewan gold.
Team Hogeboom coach Barb Owens felt the rink’s ability to bounce back was a key factor in their success all weekend, especially when it came to dealing with a team that seemed to have their number.
“I told the girls, hey, it doesn't matter who we play, you gotta beat the best to be the best, and they did just that,” Owens said. “But something I'm most proud of this team is that they know how to lose, they can understand that they can lose a game, but they haven't lost the event. They have the right mindset that we’re not losing, we’re learning, and we learned from the (losses to Wood), came back and beat them. So I'm really, really proud of them for that, for having that mindset, and it's really served them weill.”
It certainly didn’t hurt that the Hogeboom foursome has a winning pedigree, having won the high school provincial girls championship last spring. So knowing how to win the big games helped when it came to having to win the big games
“The dynamic was very similar and we had the experience of the pressure and the stress levels already,” Kaylee said. “So I think that we were more familiar with the amount of stress and that made it easier.”
Now, it’s off to the Curling Canada U18 national championship in Saskatoon from Feb. 16-22. Hogeboom will join Wood as two of the 21 teams battling for the Canadian title.
“How the games shake out is how they shake out, but if we're curling well, we're going to win more than we're losing,” Owens said. “So that's the goal, and not to put too much pressure on them to enjoy being Team Saskatchewan, because that's a heck of an accomplishment.”
It’ll be the last kick at the can in U18s in the province for Kaylee, as she graduates this spring and is off to B.C. to attend university.
“I think there'll be quite a wide range of skill sets like just in any other competition and so we'll just have to play our best and win the games that matter,” she said. “Winning nationals and in our home province would be an amazing way to end it.”
The schedule for nationals will be announced closer to the date, so be sure to keep an eye on for that update.
Extra ends… Hogeboom wasn’t the only local rink to get through to nationals as Dayne Heisler and his rink of third Blake Montgomery, second Riley Cushway and lead Laine Burnham finished second in the U18 boys division and will also vy for a Canadian title in Saskatoon. Be sure to check back next week for more on their outlook for the event!
